Jeju language
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jeju language
제주말
Jeju-teukbyeoljachi-do in South Korea.svg
Jeju Island (red), where the language is spoken
Native toSouth Korea
RegionJeju Island
EthnicityJeju people
Native speakers5,000 - 10,000 (2010)
Language family
Koreanic
Jeju language
Language codes
ISO 639-3jje
ELPJejueo
The Jeju language (Jeju: 제주말, Jeju-mal) is a Koreanic language spoken on the South Korean island of Jeju. It is related to Korean.


Contents
1History
2Usage
3Dialect or language
4Related pages
5References
History
The Jeju language comes from Middle Korean, which is also the ancestor of the Korean language.

Jeju became a separate language from (mainland) Korean due to its isolation as an island and because in 1629, Jejuans were banned from leaving Jeju, causing more disconnection.

Usage
UNESCO lists Jeju as a "critically endangered" language, since most of its speakers are over the age of 70.[1] Younger Jejuans speak Korean instead. As of 2010, the language is spoken by 5,000 - 10,000 people, which is less than 2% of Jeju Island's total population.[1]

Dialect or language
Many linguists think Jeju is its own language, mostly because mainland Koreans cannot understand it.[2] Others think Jeju is a dialect of Korean, although a very different one. The local government calls Jeju as a separate language, and the idea of it being a language is becoming more accepted in both Korean and foreign academia. UNESCO listed Jeju as one of the world's languages in 2011.[2]

Related pages
Jeju-do, the island where Jeju language is spoken
South Korea
References
"UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
"The Distinct and Separate Language of Jeju Island". Day Translations Blog. 2014-12-29. Retrieved 2020-08-16.

Jeju language. (2020, August 16). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19:33, October 14, 2022 from https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jeju_language&oldid=7070714.